Page:Historical and Biographical Annals of Columbia and Montour Counties, Pennsylvania, Containing a Concise History of the Two Counties and a Genealogical and Biographical Record of Representative Families.pdf/127

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COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES

tem was adopted the pupils began to look for­ ward to something higher and school work seemed to be worth while. Within the last fifteen years there has been a steady increase in the number of high schools in the county, scarcely equaled in the rest of the State. Fishingcreek, Mifliin, Scott, Sugarloaf, Hemlock, Madison, Briarcreek, Centre, Beaver. Roaringcreek. Main, Locust, Green­ wood and Mount Pleasant by 1912 all had good high schools, thoroughly established and enthusiastically patronized. The special appropriation for these high schools for the year 1912 was over $5,000. Besides the above there have been high schools established at Benton, Orangeville, Stillwater and Millville, and in every township except Pine, Montour and Jackson. The attendance at these schools is remarkable, over ninety per cent of those who begin the course remaining to graduate, a record which some of the more wealthy and populous counties cannot equal. Wherever a high school has been in operation for a few years there will be found a social center composed of intellectually bright young men and women who will assist in the future development of the mental and moral character of their section. Each month the teachers In the different districts meet to discuss ways and means of im­ proving their work, and each month the lead­ ing teachers of the county spend a day at the county seat, where they listen to talks by some of the greatest educators of the State. In every district a local educational mass meeting is held thrice yearly, and is largely attended by the people. County institutes are growing steadily in popularity; graduation exercises and commencements are held yearly; school frolics for the improvement of the school buildings arc often held; an eight weeks' summer review school is held each year at Benton and attended by 150 students; an excursion of progressive farmers, teachers and pupils is made each year to the State College, to get acquainted with the progress of scientific agri­culture; and a series of debating leagues are in operation to develop the latent oratory of the pupils. An exhibit of the schools of this county at the National Educational Association in Philadelphia in 1913 was pronounced to be the best of any country schools in the State.

BUILDINGS

The character and equipment of the schoolhouses have kept pace with and often out stripped that of the educational end. The old rural schoolhouse of twenty-five years ago was a frame structure, with an entrance directly into the schoolroom, and no arrangements were made for ventilation, the windows being closed for the winter and seldom opened until the warm breath of spring compelled it. As an old resident said about the pioneer schoolhouses and churches, "the atmosphere was carefully preserved from one season to the other, and one could tell he was in a schoolhouse or church, even when his eyes were closed, by the smell.” There were then no decorations or embellish­ ment of the walls or exterior, and often a sad lack of repairs. The furniture consisted of plain wooden benches and desks, the seats sometimes having a close capacity for three or four children together. The outbuildings were small, dilapidated and unsanitary to the fullest degree.  But these conditions do not prevail now. The contrast is remarkable between the oldtime school and the one of these days. Even the country schoolhouse now is often built of enduring brick, and where wood is used the style of architecture and furnishings are in consonance with all that modern science can show, while the efforts of the directors, teach­ ers and pupils are constantly directed to the end of housing the scholar in a building where he can gain an education without losing his health and cheerfulness. The location and character of the high schools of the county are given below, and even where there is no comment on the school it is to be understood that the building is in as good a state of repairs as its age will allow. The grammar schools of the different townships are described in the chapters devoted to the general history of those divisions. Superintendent Evans was elected to the office which he holds in 1901 and has been repeatedly reelected up to 1914. Most of the recent educational growth of the county is due to his efforts. His unflagging energy and abundant resources of mind and body, coupled with a genial personality, has endeared him to all with whom he has been associated. He has a fine and artistic sense, and through his efforts the schools have had their lack of decorative appearance filled by the placing upon their walls of hundreds of finely framed pictures from the old masters and modern artists. Within the last year Superintendent Evans had the honor given him of the presidency of the Columbia County Historical Society, and he intends to enlist the teachers and scholars in the work of gathering material and relics for the rooms of the society in the county court­ house. This will be a method of teaching history in a practical and effective manner.